Juan Gonzalez drops off Hall of Fame ballot

Two-time Rangers MVP Juan Gonzalez did not receive the required five percent of the vote and will no longer appear on the Baseball Hall of Fame ballot.

On a day when Barry Larkin was the only player voted for induction into the Baseball Hall of Fame by the Baseball Writers Association of America (with 86 percent of the vote), Gonzalez received 23 votes out of the 573 ballots cast. That's four percent of the vote. It was his second year of eligibility.

Last year, Gonzalez got 30 votes out of 581 ballots. That was barely enough for the five percent needed to stay on the ballot.

Gonzalez won the AL MVP in 1996 and in 1998. The Rangers won the AL West both of those seasons. He remains the all-time club leader in homers (372), RBIs (1,180), and extra-base hits (713), in addition to slugging percentage and others, will not make the Hall of Fame.

Gonzalez wasn't the only Ranger who appeared on the ballot this year. Rafael Palmeiro received 12.6 percent of the vote, so he'll be back on the ballot next year. But Ruben Sierra, Phil Nevin and Brian Jordan, who all wore a Rangers uniform at some point, did not receive a vote and won't be on the ballot again.